The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday framed charges against former chief justice SK Sinha and 10 others in a case filed under Money Laundering Act. ACC Director Benjir Ahmed submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka on yesterday afternoon.
Earlier on December 4 the ACC approved a charge-sheet against former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others on charge of laundering Tk 4 crore. Earlier ACC Director Syed Iqbal Hossain lodged the case against Sinha and 10 others with the anti-graft watchdog’s Dhaka integrated district office-1 at Segunbagicha.
The approval came at an emergency meeting at the watchdog’s headquarters of the anti-corruption watchdog on Wednesday noon. ACC director general (DG Special Investigation) Syed Mahbub Khan confirmed the reporters about the approval of chargesheet against them.
The name of an accused has been excluded from the chargesheet following his death while a fresh one has been included. ACC in its investigation into the case found that Surendra Kumar Sinha and ten others laundered the money. The other accused are -former managing director of Farmers Bank (now Padma Bank) KM Shamim, former senior executive vice President Gazi Salauddin, first vice-president Swapon Kumar Ray, senior vice-president and former branch manager Md Ziauddin Ahmed, first vice-president Shafiuddin Askary, vice-president Md Lutful Haque, businessman from Tangail Md Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, Ranjit Chandra Saha and his wife Shanti Ray.
Sinha sent his resignation letter to the Bangabhaban on November 10, 2017 from abroad. President Abdul Hamid accepted the resignation of Sinha on November 13, 2017. Currently, Sinha is staying in the United States. In October 2018, the found ‘evidence’ of fraud involving transactions of Tk 4 crore borrowed by two businessmen, Shahjahan and Niranjan, from Farmers Bank.
Later, the ACC initiated an investigation over allegations. The investigation found that the fund was deposited in bank account of Sinha. Earlier a Dhaka court asked the ACC to submit the probe report of the money laundering case filed against former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others.
The national anti-graft agency has launched a probe into allegation of corruption and misusing of power raised against former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha. Former BNP leader and chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Alliance, Barrister Nazmul Huda, filed a case against former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha with Shahbagh Police Station on September 27 for allegedly being involved in corruption and misuse of power while performing his duty as the chief justice.
Nazmul Huda alleged that Sinha had demanded Taka 3.25 crore as bribe after calling him in his room. The ACC found that both Niranjan Chandra Saha and M Shahjahan deposited Tk2 crore each into Sinha’s personal account in Sonali Bank, transferred from their accounts with the Farmers Bank’s Gulshan Branch, by separate pay orders in 2016.
And they had collected the money through a loan from the same bank, which was processed illegally, and without following due process with the help of the accused bank officials. Ranajit was allegedly a personal secretary of Sinha’s, and Ranajit and Shahjahan are childhood friends, the ACC found during its investigation.